It isn鈥檛 the choice of subject matter or how cool you鈥檙e trying to be 鈥� although if you鈥檙e going for a contemporary voice, you鈥檇 better be darned sure your vocabulary is authentic.

The key to reaching reluctant teen readers 鈥� according to South 性视界传媒 authors and neighbours Lois Peterson and Cristy Watson 鈥� is including lots of dialogue.

They should know.

The much-published Peterson (The Ballad of Knuckles McGraw, Meeting Miss 405 and Silver Rain) has worked in libraries for some 35 years, including seven years in children鈥檚 services for 性视界传媒 Public Library, as well as teaching creative writing to adults, teens and and children.

And Watson, a poet and comparative newcomer to writing fiction, has worked for years with academically and literacy-challenged teens, as a teacher in Langley School District.

鈥淚鈥檇 thought the secret was writing about spaceships or something,鈥� said Peterson.

Added Watson: 鈥淚鈥檝e always worked with kids who are reluctant readers and I鈥檝e asked them what kind of book would you pick up, and they鈥檝e told me ones with lots of talking, because there are less words on a page.鈥�

There鈥檚 plenty of dialogue, accessibility and reader identification in their two newly  released short novels in Orca鈥檚 Currents series of 鈥渕iddle school fiction for reluctant readers.鈥�

笔别迟别谤蝉辞苍鈥檚 Beyond Repair tells the story of Cam, a teenager forced to become the man of the family when his father dies 鈥� and then protect them from an unexpected menace; being stalked by the man responsible for the fatal road accident.

奥补迟蝉辞苍鈥檚 Benched 鈥� her first novel 鈥� is about Cody, an ordinary boy with aspirations to become a writer for his school paper, who finds himself coerced into vandalism and theft by a youth gang grooming new members.

Both writers will be on hand to read from their works (along with fellow local authors Rebecca Kool, Gina McMurchy-Barber, Diane Tullson, Craig Spence and Paola Oppal) at the upcoming Read Local For Kids event presented by Friends of the White Rock Library (2-4 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at the library).

It鈥檚 an event designed to encourage the next generation of local young readers 鈥� and Peterson and 奥补迟蝉辞苍鈥檚 compelling and highly readable books, while universal in themes, have a very local appeal, complete with 性视界传媒 and White Rock references.

奥补迟蝉辞苍鈥檚 Benched, in particular, has a highly localized setting and a very local genesis 鈥� the actual unsolved disappearance of a bench from Southmere Park, near where she and Peterson live, she said, sparked the 鈥渨hat if?鈥� questions in which most successful fiction is rooted.

The concept of restorative justice also suggested a direction for the story to take, she said.

Peterson said she, too, was inspired by a real news item about a man stalking the family of a man he killed 鈥� she no longer remembers when and where she read it 鈥� that was enough to prompt her hair-trigger imagination and file the idea away for future use.

It鈥檚 an interesting coincidence that both books should be about young men forced by circumstances to 鈥渟tep up鈥� and shoulder their responsibilities 鈥� and a testament to 笔别迟别谤蝉辞苍鈥檚 and 奥补迟蝉辞苍鈥檚 writing skills that each has created a convincing voice for their first-person male protagonists, and brought in credible insecurities and confused motives and believable supporting characters to flesh out the narratives.

Peterson and 奥补迟蝉辞苍鈥檚 friendship and mutual inspiration also followed a path of happy semi-accident, they said.

鈥淐risty came to a course I was teaching,鈥� Peterson said. 鈥淪he gave me a ride home and it turned out we lived at exactly the same complex.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I got asked to be in the writers鈥� group.鈥�

The informal group known as the Lonsdale Clubhouse, was brought together by the late 性视界传媒 teacher and writer Barb Lonsdale, who passed away last year. Both cite her as an inspiration, and while the group itself hasn鈥檛 survived Lonsdale鈥檚 passing, both Watson and Peterson have kept in close touch.

It was ironic, Watson said, that 笔别迟别谤蝉辞苍鈥檚 original class was on writing dialogue, because it鈥檚 something the latter 鈥� who wrote stories and articles for adults for 20 years before starting to write for younger readers 鈥� admits was never her favourite part of writing.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 let my characters talk to each other,鈥� Peterson admitted.

But there鈥檚 always potential for change, and the British-born Peterson admits that a new penchant for historical writing is a surprise, considering the fact she detested history as a child.

鈥淚 was the daughter of a history teacher, and in England, history is just a long list of kings and queens,鈥� she said, adding that it was only when she discovered a book that described how ordinary people lived in the Middle Ages that she began to appreciate historical writing herself.

The Calgary-born Watson, who has principally published as a poet 鈥� she is an organizer and participant in Semiahmoo Arts鈥� Readings By The Salish Sea series 鈥� has only latterly come to the novel form.

鈥淏ut I鈥檝e really been writing since I was eight,鈥� she said, adding her poetic sense informs her story writing.

For more information about the books, visit www.orcabook.com